Ursula Vaughan Williams
Ursula Vaughan Williams | |
---|---|
Born | Joan Ursula Penton Lock 15 March 1911 Valletta, Malta |
Died | 23 October 2007 London, England | (aged 96)
Occupation(s) | Poet and author |
Spouses | |
Parent(s) | Sir Robert Lock Kathleen Beryl Penton |
Relatives | Arthur Pole Penton (grandfather) |
Joan Ursula Penton Vaughan Williams (née Lock, formerly Wood; 15 March 1911 – 23 October 2007) was an English poet and author, and biographer of her second husband, the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Biography
Early years
Ursula Vaughan Williams was born in
Army life entailed frequent moves, and her education was sporadic. She had governesses before attending a day school in England and finishing her schooling in Brussels (1927–28).
First marriage
On 24 May 1933 she married Captain John Michael James Forrester Wood of the
In 1941 her first published book of poems appeared, titled No Other Choice.[1] The following year Michael Wood died suddenly of heart failure. At Adeline's behest the widowed Ursula was invited to stay with the Vaughan Williamses in Dorking, and thereafter was a regular visitor there, sometimes staying for weeks at a time. The critic Michael White suggests that Adeline "appears, in the most amicable way, to have adopted Ursula as her successor".[9] Ursula recorded that during air raids all three slept in the same room in adjacent beds, holding hands for comfort.[9] In 1943 she published a second volume of poems, Fall of Leaf.[1]
Marriage to Vaughan Williams
Adeline died in 1951, aged eighty.
Vaughan Williams died in 1958. Following his death his widow moved to Gloucester Crescent near Regent's Park, London.[13][n 3] In 1964 she published RVW: A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams. She completed her autobiography, Paradise Remembered, in 1972, but did not publish it until 2002.[2] She wrote four novels, including Set to Partners (1968) and The Yellow Dress (1984),[15] and five volumes of poetry. She wrote libretti for other composers, including Herbert Howells, Malcolm Williamson and Elisabeth Lutyens, for example, her "Hymn to St. Cecilia", which was set to music by Howells.[1][2]
Until her death in London at the age of 96 she was honorary president of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society. She was also the president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. Her funeral was held at St John's Wood Church.[16]
Bibliography
- The Complete Poems of Ursula Vaughan Williams
- RVW: A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams by Ursula Vaughan Williams
- There was a time... A pictorial journey from the collection of Ursula Vaughan Williams
- Paradise Remembered (autobiography)
- The Collected Poems of Ursula Vaughan Williams
Notes, references and sources
Notes
- ^ Ralph and Adeline Vaughan Williams had previously lived at Cheyne Walk in London until the numerous stairs in their house became too much for her and caused them to move to a more manageable home, "The White Gates", Dorking. Vaughan Williams, who thought of himself as a complete Londoner, was sorry to leave the capital, but his wife was anxious to live in the country, and Dorking was within reasonably convenient reach of town.[8]
- ^ There were no children of the marriage.[11]
- ^ In Gloucester Crescent her neighbours included Alan Bennett. She appears as a character in Bennett's autobiographical play and film The Lady in the Van; in the film she is played by Frances de la Tour.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ursula Vaughan Williams", The Daily Telegraph, 25 October 2007, p. 29
- ^ a b c d Neighbour, Oliver. Ursula Vaughan Williams", The Guardian, 25 October 20007
- ^ McCray, James. "Collaboration: Ursula and Ralph Vaughan Williams", The Choral Journal, February 1993, pp. 9–11 (subscription required)
- ^ "Marriages", The Times, 11 April 1933, p. 17; and "Weddings and Engagements", The Tatler, 26 April 1933, p. x
- ^ Vaughan Williams, p. 218
- ^ Vaughan Williams, pp. 218–219
- ^ a b Neighbour, pp. 337–338 and 345
- ^ Vaughan Williams, pp. 171 and 179
- ^ a b White, Michael. "The merry widow", The Daily Telegraph, 4 May 2002, p. 62
- ^ "Obituary", The Times, 12 May 1951, p. 8
- ^ "Vaughan Williams, Ralph", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 2007 (subscription required)
- ^ Vaughan Williams, p. 331
- ^ Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush – Letter No.: VWL3696 – The Letters of Ralph Vaughan Williams database
- ^ "The Lady in the Van", British Film Institute. Retrieved 24 February 2024
- ^ Robert Ponsonby (25 October 2007). "Obituary: Ursula Vaughan Williams". The Independent. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
- ^ Carrier, Dan (8 November 2007). "Hundreds pay tribute to Vaughan Williams". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
Sources
- JSTOR 30162996. (subscription required)
- Vaughan Williams, Ursula (1964). RVW: A Biography of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-315411-7.